Computerized wagering games have largely replaced traditional mechanical wagering game machines such as slot machines, and are rapidly being adopted to implement computerized versions of games that are traditionally played live such as poker and blackjack. These computerized games provide many benefits to the game owner and to the gambler, including greater reliability than can be achieved with a mechanical game or human dealer, more variety, sound, and animation in presentation of a game, and a lower overall cost of production and management.
The elements of computerized wagering game systems are in many ways the same as the elements in the mechanical and table game counterparts in that they must be fair, they must provide sufficient feedback to the game player to make the game fun to play, and they must meet a variety of gaming regulations to ensure that both the machine owner and gamer are honest and fairly treated in implementing the game. Further, they must provide a gaming experience that is at least as attractive as the older mechanical gaming machine experience to the gamer, to ensure success in a competitive gaming market.
Computerized wagering games do not rely on the dealer or other game players to facilitate game play and to provide an entertaining game playing environment, but rely upon the presentation of the game and environment generated by the wagering game machine itself. Incorporation of audio and video features into wagering games to present the wagering game, to provide help, and to enhance the environment presented are therefore important elements in the attractiveness and commercial success of a computerized wagering game system. It is not uncommon for audio voices to provide instruction and help, and to provide commentary on the wagering game being played. Music and environmental effects are also played through speakers in some wagering game systems to enhance or complement a theme of the wagering game. These sounds typically accompany video presentation of the wagering game on a screen, which itself often includes animation, video, and three-dimensional graphics as part of presentation of the wagering game.
Modern wagering game system also typically employ a network connection enabling each wagering game machine to communicate with other computerized systems on the network. For example, a progressive area slot controller will coordinate the progressive slot jackpot and coordinate selection of a winner by communicating with each wagering game machine that is a part of the progressive jackpot pool. Computers are used for other purposes, such as for accounting, for tracking rates of game play, and for receiving service requests or malfunction notification. The wagering game machine can be the recipient of information, such as where configuration information like an audio volume level is sent or specified via the network connection. Software updates such as new multimedia files, new game code, operating system changes, and other such data can also be sent via the network connection to a wagering game machine.
But, because significant amounts of money are being wagered on the wagering game machines, the security of network communications is an important consideration. A cheat who is able to intercept or falsify messages on the network could conceivably change the operation or configuration of wagering game machines, as well as interfere with accounting for specific wagering game machines or progressive slot machine controllers.
It is therefore desirable to ensure secure communication between a wagering game machine and other computerized systems in a network.